BPI: No decline in illegal downloading

One in three still stealing music online

Illegal downloading is still rife, according to the BPI, and regardless of the recent surge in legal sites offering music for near-nothing, it seems that consumers are still looking to getting their music illegitimately.

The BPI survey, which polled 3,000 people between the ages of 16 and 54, found that a third were still willing to procure music illegally online through blogs and upload sites.

Not only that, those who are downloading illegally also said that they will continue doing it and even ramp up their illicit downloading in future.

Disappointing

"There are now more than 35 legal digital music services in the UK, offering music fans a great choice of ways to get music legally," explained BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor.

"It's disappointing that levels of illegal peer-to-peer use remain high despite this and the publicity surrounding imminent measures to address the problem. It's vital that those measures come into force as quickly as possible.

"The growth in other, non-peer-to-peer methods of downloading music illegally is a concern, and highlights the importance of including a mechanism in the Digital Economy Bill to deal with threats other than peer-to-peer."